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A FAIR HIT: GERFALCON STRIKING HERON
When Knighthood was in Flower the favorite game of every overlord (who alone was entitled to use the
Gerfalcon) was the stately heron.
Modern falconers seem unable to adapt these splendid northern hawks to
present conditions, depending almost wholly upon the native peregrine.
But in the fourteenth century a
gerfalcon was indeed a kingly gift, and one often employed when the goodwill of a near or distant potentate
was particularly desirable.
In attacking, the gerfalcon climbs above the heron then " stoops " with great
force at her quarry. There is no truth in the legend that the heron, as a means of defense, sometimes impales
the descending enemy upon its dagger-like beak.